In August 1966, 108 ANZAC soldiers stationed outside Long Tan fought off thousands of hostile Viet Cong in one of the first, and one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam war.
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Eighteen Australians died and 24 were injured.
The battle of Long Tan came to identify and symbolise the plight of Australians soldiers who served in the conflict.
Half-a-century later, at the site of the battle and at memorial sites across the Hunter and the nation, Australians reflected. In Maitland a crowd filled Maitland Park to lay wreaths at the cenotaph.
“It mean a lot to veterans to see so many people here and it means a great deal to their families,” said Maitland veteran Basil Stemp.
At Veterans Memorial Park at Aberdare, a replica of the Long Tan Cross, based on a memorial erected by the 6th Battalion in Vietnam three years after the battle, was unveiled.
At the Austrailan War Memorial the names of the 521 Australians who died in the conflict were projected on to the exterior of the building.